Mixed News May Lead To Choppy Trading On Wall Street - U.S. Commentary

(RTTNews) - With traders reacting to a mixed batch of catalysts, stocks may show a lack of direction in early trading on Thursday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a roughly flat open for the markets, with the Dow future down by just 2 points.

The futures had been pointing a higher open for the markets earlier in the morning due in part to comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin that eased concerns about the situation in Ukraine.

During a visit to the Crimea region, Putin indicated that Russia will do everything possible so that the conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists ends as soon as possible.

However, the buying interest was partly offset by a report from the Labor Department showing that initial jobless claims rose by more than expected in the week ended August 9th.

The report said initial jobless claims climbed to 311,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's revised level of 290,000. Economists had been expecting jobless claims to edge up to 295,000.

A separate report from the Labor Department showed that import prices fell slightly more than expected amid a notable pullback by fuel prices.

The Labor Department said import prices edged down by 0.2 percent in July after inching up by 0.1 percent in June. Economists had expected import prices to dip by 0.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the report said export prices came in unchanged in July following a 0.4 percent drop in the previous month. Export prices had been expected to slip 0.2 percent.

Traders are also digesting quarterly results from corporate giants Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Wal-Mart (WMT).

After the close of trading on Wednesday, Cisco reported fourth quarter earnings and revenues that topped expectations but issued lukewarm guidance for the first quarter. The networking giant also announced plans to eliminate 6,000 positions.

Wal-Mart reported second quarter earnings that matched analyst estimates on revenues that came in above expectations. However, the retail giant also cut its full-year profit forecast.

After ending the previous session modestly lower, stocks showed a significant move back to the upside during trading on Wednesday. The markets benefited from easing concerns about the outlook for monetary policy and the conflicts overseas.

The major averages moved roughly sideways in afternoon trading, hovering firmly in positive territory. The Dow climbed 91.26 points or 0.6 percent to 16,651.80, the Nasdaq jumped 44.87 points or 1 percent to 4,434.13 and the S&P 500 advanced 12.97 points or 0.7 percent to 1,946.72.